WHO WE ARE

Together, Orpheus and Mary Rose work with schools to find the best candidates, and with candidates to find their ideal position.

ORPHEUS CRUTCHFIELD

President and Founder

Orpheus has over 25 years of experience working in and with independent schools across the country, and globally. His career has been devoted to helping independent schools work towards equity and inclusion, diversifying and training their personnel and boards, as well as cultivating and mentoring diverse educators for success and leadership. Orpheus’ experiences as a teacher, nonprofit administrator, trustee, parent of an independent school former student, and as an entrepreneur give him a unique perspective on and a deep understanding of the needs of independent schools. He is presently on two independent school boards and has served on six others. His network of teachers, administrators and school leaders is vast and relationships deep. Orpheus has appeared on CNN, the San Francisco Chronicle and in NPR for his work in attracting underrepresented groups to independent schools. He has a BA from UC Berkeley and Master’s work ABD in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco.

MARY ROSE FERNANDEZ

VP for Recruitment, Partnerships and Strategy

Mary Rose joined StratéGenius in the spring of 2015. She started her education career as a teacher at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, TX. She then became the Western Regional Director of the Multicultural Alliance, an initiative by independent schools to develop a pipeline of diverse teachers through internships and fellowships. Mary Rose later co-founded and directed the TEAMS Program (Teacher Education for the Advancement of a Multicultural Society) at the University of San Francisco to recruit, train and develop teachers of color for urban public schools across California and Washington State. Serving 400 teachers a year, TEAMS was the most diverse teacher development program in the country. Mary Rose has served on several non-profit and school boards. She has a BA from the University of San Francisco and a Master’s Degree in Social and Cultural Studies from UC Berkeley. She met Orpheus 20 years ago at job fair where he recruited her for her first independent school teaching job. She has two daughters in an independent school and is an active parent in their school. She lives with her family in San Francisco.

Ayla Peters

Social Media & Communications Manager

Ayla joined StratéGenius in early 2019 to create social media content and streamline the application and matching process for candidates and member schools. She recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a dual degree in Environmental Science and Political Economy. Her work outside of StratéGenius focuses on climate change and its effect on rural and agricultural communities, and she hopes to pursue a PhD in Geography in the future. Ayla met Orpheus when she was in high school through the Berkeley Foundation for Opportunities in Information Technology (BFOIT) summer program and is overjoyed to work with him and Mary Rose in a professional setting. She is excited to bring her millennial perspective and social media know-how to StratéGenius.